Preteen & Young Teen Babysitters
Parent Q&A
This is very subjective but a “rule” someone told me recently was that the babysitter can reasonably charge their age if the parents are out of the house, or their grade if the parents are home (like a mother’s helper gig). So a 14 year old babysitter in the 8th grade would be paid $14/hour when parents are gone and $8/hour when parents are home.
hi - my 13yo daughter is a mother's helper. the family who hired her has a 9mo old and 2 1/2 yo, and met our daughter while she was volunteering at her old daycare. she helps them out 2x / week, each time for 2-3 hrs, with the tasks you mention above. there is usually a parent home, but i think on occasion the mom has left her with one child for a short time. i think the rate should be less than what you'd pay a high school or older babysitter. i'm happy to share more, feel free to contact me.
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Young teens vs. older teens
Teens often start to be interested in babysitting when they are 11 or 12, and many parents hire neighborhood teens at this age. Most parents who have long-standing arrangements with teen sitters started off with a young teen from the neighborhood whose parents would be home in an emergency. Or they initially hired the teen to come at times when a parent would be at home at the same time working on other tasks. Peak teen babysitting years seem to be between 12 and 15. Teens 15 and older tend to have social activities they want to do with their friends on the weekends. By the time they are 16, they are often driving, going to parties, involved in sports, and it becomes hard to schedule them for babysitting. In addition, 16-year-olds can work at other jobs besides babysitting that usually pay more and are less demanding. Many families have older teen sitters who have been sitting for them for a long time, since they were 12 or so. It's a good idea to develop a relationship early with a younger teen. They may be still willing to babysit for you even after they are driving!
What should I pay a teen to watch my 3-year-old?
Dec 2010
Hi, I am looking to hire a teenager to help watch my 3 year old in the evening for 6-7 hours a week. She is my nanny's 14 years old daughter; and although she has watched her young cousins, I don't think she has any ''outside'' babysitting experience. I don't know what the going rate for this age is. She will give him dinner (already prepared), a bath, and putting him to bed. I could use some input as to how much I should pay. Thanks!
I have a 14yr old neighbor who approached us with her flyer. Her advertised rates were $5/hr for one, $7 for two & $9 for 3. My friend pays her teen babysitter $6.50. anon
I just wanted to suggest that you definitely NOT ask a teenage babysitter to bathe your 3-year-old. I think most babysitter certification classes tell the kids they shouldn't be bathing kids, either. That's way too much responsibility and danger potential for both kids. Especially for someone inexperienced, as it sounds like your babysitter may be. Teri C.
How much should teen charge who is just starting out?
Sept 2009
Hi, My teen daughter is set to begin babysitting. We haven't found anywhere the information on what the ''average'' or ''normal'' hourly charge is these days for babysitters. Does it vary by the number of children? And, what about the charge for staying overnight? Thanks for any information / advice / etc. Teen wants to sit
My 13 year old son is being paid $6/hr to walk kids from elementary school to Hebrew School and tutor them there. I have paid high school sitters $8/hr for evening sitting. I pay my experienced college age sitter $10/hr and when she has sat overnight, such as on New Year's Eve., we negotiated an overall rate such as $70 to give them dinner (pizza), put them to bed, etc. That was for two children of elementary school age. She was the one who didn't want to feel she was overcharging when most of the hours would be sleeping ones. kl
My 15 yr old daughter gets paid $7.50/hr for one child or $10/hr for two, and she doesn't even have CPR certification. I would think an adult sitter would be most appropriate for an overnight. We used to trade weekend overnight sits with one other family (extra fun-- we would take our own kids and trade houses).
It seems like there's only a small window of a couple of years when teens babysit, before they get too busy with school.
There are a couple of babysitting co-ops in the Albany/Berkeley area. We found this to be an excellent and flexible option: in exchange for your commitment, you get to know a small group of parents; one adult may sit your kid while you schedule yourself to sit for another family a different time. Sometimes two adults from the co-op would tag-team watch our kids when we had an all-day event. There are books on starting your own co-op; you may find like- minded parents in your kids' schools. been there
13-year old daughter wants to start babysitting
Feb 2009
My 13-year old daughter wants to start babysitting (she has one sitting experience, for our neighbors' 4 and 7 year olds). What are teen sitters charging these days? She won't be caring for infants yet, or making meals. It's been years since I hired a sitter...
Unless they are a mother's helper, a babysitter should be paid at least minimum wage. $10 is a good place to start for a more experienced babysitter. My going rate is $12 plus gas as I am very experienced and can perform CPR. N
We do this for our 11 year old kid. When we have friends over, we noticed that they are not nice to little kids (3-7 year olds) so we told them that they could earn money by “babysitting” from this time to this time and have it a bit more structured. We will have crafts projects or games for them to lead with the little kids. Usually I let our kid invite a friend so that they can do this together with the friend and they can split the pay (with the parents’ consent, of course). Usually a couple of hours and $10 is what we offer. Kid seems satisfied with this arrangement. As a frame of reference, Their weekly allowance is $5. They get paid $5 per week for plant sitting when our neighbor is away for vacation, $5 for folding a load of adults’ laundry. $10-20/week for cat sitting (daily visit, feeding, playing) all of these “sitting” is done with me or my spouse.